by Julie Frost
But the Board—
She looked at Ben again, pale and shivering and sweating beside Janni, who was stroking his hair. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you, Miss Graham. We’ll be in the operating theater.”
“Alex?” He tilted his head and lifted an eyebrow, which had some kind of who-knew-what gunk stuck to it. “Be careful.” She put a world of meaning behind those simple words.
“I’m always careful.” Which was clearly a lie, and they both knew it. He gave her a jaunty grin she could tell he didn’t feel and turned to help roll the bed into the other room.
Megan took a deep breath and headed into the teleconference room to beard the board in its den. She kept her worries to herself. She’d gotten good at that.
Clarke closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead when she walked in range of the camera without Alex. Barnhardt and Peterson looked infuriated. “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen,” Megan said, “but Mr. Jarrett has been unavoidably detained for the foreseeable future. We’re going to have to reschedule.”
“This is the last straw, Miss Graham,” Barnhardt said, leaning forward and scowling. “Jarrett is the picture of irresponsibility, and someone else needs to take over the reins of this company before he runs it into the ground. Is he drunk again?”
Megan carefully didn’t react, although the man set her fangs on edge and always had. “He’s working very hard on a special project, and he’s at a delicate point in the research. He really can’t leave it right now.” She couldn’t exactly tell them that Alex was busy saving the life of someone who’d gotten vampirized because they’d hired him off the books to look into some industrial espionage—especially since they knew a couple of board members were in on it. She wasn’t sure which the board would find more scandalous: the vampire part, or the fact that the espionage was an inside job. Best to keep that close to the vest for now.
Others were nodding in agreement with Barnhardt. “I move for a vote of no confidence, and once that passes, we should file an injunction against Jarrett,” he said. “He should be in rehab, not running a company as large as this one.”
Clarke crossed his arms. “Slow down, Barnhardt. You’ve got no guarantee a no-confidence vote would pass.”
“Second the motion,” Peterson said, right on cue. Not that Megan was surprised; she wondered if Barnhardt had some blackmail material on the man, since he had his nose so far up Barnhard’s ass that it would break if Barnhardt stopped suddenly.
The motion passed by a single vote. And all she could do was stand there and fume as the members of the board turned their cameras off one by one.
O O O
Alex and Doc Allen prepped the operating theater, getting defib paddles and a massive shot of adrenaline ready for use. Alex had already hit Ben with a megadose of nanotech and his own stem cells, which, with Janni’s blood, had helped—Ben was at least aware of what was going on around him now.
They’d left Janni in the main lab, over her protests. Alex had no guarantee this would actually work, and he didn’t want her to be here if it killed Ben instead of curing him. She’d been traumatized enough watching him do the procedure to a rabbit.
“You ready?” Alex said, placing heart monitor electrodes.
“Not remotely,” Ben gasped.
“It’s now or never.”
“I know.” Ben closed his eyes and breathed for a few seconds. “A little warning … before you poke me … with that big-ass needle …”
“You sure?” Alex squirted gel on the paddles and rubbed them together. “Wolfing and eating us would be counterproductive.”
“Yeah.” Ben fisted his hands in the blankets. “G’head.”
“Clear,” Alex said, and hit him with the defib.
Ben’s body arched up, and then he fell back to the bed, panting. The heart monitor stuttered briefly, but it wasn’t enough, and Alex increased the current.
“Again.”
Ben swore between clenched teeth as the current coursed through his body. The heart monitor was happier this time.
“Needle,” Alex warned.
“God,” Ben choked out, hair sprouting on his arms and fangs erupting. Doc Allen injected the epinephrine directly into his heart. “Ohholyshit …”
“No wolfing, dammit,” Alex said. “Easy, man.” He kept one eye on the heart monitor and another on Ben. The heart rate increased to two-thirty-three and dropped gradually down to a more respectable and sustainable fifty-two before leveling off.
“Huh,” Doc Allen said. “I think …” He put his stethoscope on and listened to Ben’s chest. “Yeah. This’ll do.”
“Put your teeth back, Ben,” Alex said. “We’re done.”
Ben lay there, gasping through wolf jaws, claws piercing the covers. His fur hadn’t stopped growing, either.
“Ben?” Alex let some alarm creep into his tone, hoping that would bring him back to himself.
It didn’t work. Ben Changed from man to wolf so quickly it seemed almost instantaneous. He stood on the bed, over four hundred pounds of fanged carnivore, in the shreds of his clothing. His ears pinned back, and he let out a growl of equal parts menace and fear.
Alex and Allen backpedaled toward the door to the operating theater. Alex wasn’t sure that leaving Ben in here alone was a good option, but neither was staying and getting eaten. Or bitten.
“Ben!” Alex said. This was not good at all, this was bad. Really bad. “Focus …”
Wolf-Ben whined, flattening his ears. His doglike body language said he was confused and afraid, and Alex swept the adrenaline syringe into a drawer and slammed it shut.
“Doc, could you get Janni in here, please?” Alex said, his voice slightly strangled.
“On it.” Allen closed the door behind himself, leaving Alex, who had forgotten how to breathe, trapped in the room with a giant wolf more scared than he was.
After a few seconds that lasted like years, Janni appeared. She took in the situation at a glance and stepped around Alex, spreading her arms.
Ben flopped down on the bed and rolled onto his back with his paws over his eyes, and Alex remembered to breathe again. That message was unmistakable.
Janni sat next to Ben, stroking his stomach and murmuring nonsense words at him. He turned over and hid his head in her stomach, whimpering.
“Go ahead and go, Alex,” she said quietly. “I’ve got him.”
“You sure?”
“You’re pack, but I’m his mate. I’m sure.”
She’d lived with Ben for a year and a half and known him for six months longer than that. Alex decided to trust her judgment. “I’ll leave the door open a little, though.”
She twitched her head, both hands busy massaging Ben. Alex slipped out, and once he left the room, he needed to find a chair on the double, because his legs were way too wobbly to hold him up anymore.
More misfortune waited for him, however. He wasn’t sure he’d seen Megan look more pissed off than this before. Maybe after Pamplona … “What?”
“Barnhardt got a vote of no confidence passed. They’re filing an injunction.”
“Are they?” He couldn’t bring himself to care. “They can have fun with that. I’ve still got the controlling interest in the company.” He rolled the chair over to the couch, heaved himself onto it, and collapsed backwards, putting his feet up. “Barnhardt, huh? Peterson, too?”
“Who else? They’re serious this time, Mr. Jarrett.”
“One thing at a time, Miss Graham.” He closed his eyes. “You multitask on something like this, and it’ll bite you on the ass.”
“It’s already bitten you on the ass. You need to deal with it.”
“And I will. Just, not right now.”
“Soon.” She was worried, which gave him warm and fuzzy feelings toward her. Well. More warm and fuzzy feelings.
“Real soon,” he answered. “Put something on the books. If I’m not busy saving someone’s life, or dying myself, I’ll show up. Deal?”
“Deal.”
O O O
Ben hid his head in Janni’s lap and shivered. The human part of him had been pushed beyond the breaking point, and the wolf had taken over by default. But the wolf didn’t know what to do either. So he lay next to his mate, letting her soothe him with her hands and her voice.
He gradually relaxed, and Janni did, too. Lifting his head, he sniffed her ear and nuzzled her cheek, and she hugged him.
Tilting his head, he sniffed her again, harder. And again.
She stiffened. “What?”
Wolf. Janni was wolf.
She’d fed herself to him when he’d been a vampire, and just like Megan had said, werewolf saliva in the wound had transformed her. She wasn’t all the way there yet, but she would be soon.
For some reason, rather than stressing him, the knowledge decompressed him further. He didn’t stop to analyze why, but it was enough to let the human side come back out, and Ben found himself cuddled up next to Janni with her fingers in his hair. “Holy shit, I hate needles to death,” he said.
“Back with me?” she asked.
“Yeah, honey.” He breathed for a few seconds. “Other than one shining moment yesterday—” He reached for the engagement ring on her left hand and moved it back and forth with a forefinger. “—it’s been an awful week.”
“Mmm.” She tilted his chin up. “Let me see your teeth.”
He pulled his lips back, running his tongue against the insides of his gums. “No more fangs,” he said. “I think I’ve been de-vamped.”
She rested her hand on his chest and smiled. “Normal heartbeat. It worked.”
He closed his eyes and tightened his arm around her waist. “After all that, it better have.”
“Headache? Weakness?”
“Little bit. Getting better. Werewolf healing kicking in, probably.” He braced himself. “How’s your wrist?”
“It’s—” She stopped, peeled the bandage back. “It’s fine.”
“Yeah.”
She was silent for a few moments. “I knew the risk, and I’d do it again.”
He shook his head. “You know how awesome you are, right?”
“Maybe,” she said with a smile. “But I like to hear you say it.”
“You are so very awesome.” He looked down at himself and the shreds of clothing that surrounded him. “Were you awesome enough to bring me some clothes? I hate the naked thing.”
“I’m kind of a fan of it,” she said, “but I’ll go get you something. Stay put.”
She squeezed his hand before she got up, and he rolled onto his back, massaging his sternum. Remembering to breathe.
O O O
Megan watched Janni shut the door quietly and brace herself against the wall for a second.
“Hoo,” Janni said.
“Is he all right?” Megan asked.
“Yeah. Back to human and asking for his clothes. No more vampire fangs, and his heart is beating more than twice a minute.” She rubbed her upper arms. “And he’s not dying anymore.”
“Win,” said Alex from the couch, where he’d collapsed with his arm across his face, utterly drained.
“Go to bed, Alex,” Megan said with exasperation, as Janni headed upstairs, she assumed, to get Ben something to wear.
“Can’t. Ostheim …”
She stabbed at the air with her index finger. “Ostheim isn’t my problem, you are. You’ve had three hours of sleep in the last four days and an entire bottle of scotch in the last two—that I know about. Do I need to hit you on the head with a mallet?”
“This isn’t over yet,” he said wearily. “He called me this morning. Idna’s still sick.”
Megan bristled. She didn’t care about Idna either. “So? Are you forgetting that they came after Ben even after they killed him? She fully participated, Alex. It’s not like she’s a victim here.”
“I hadn’t forgotten, but if she dies, then he’ll come after all of us.” He heaved a sigh. “She may die anyway, even if I try to help her. No stem cells—she’s been a vampire too long, and those were key because they jump-started the repairs on a cellular level and got the heart going a little better.”
“If you can’t cure her, you can’t cure her.” Megan crossed her arms and glared. “Can’t say I’ll be upset.”
“Gotta try …”
Of course he did, because he was Alex Jarrett and it was part of him as much as the alcohol abuse and the risk-taking. Megan didn’t know if she wanted to kiss him or kill him.
“Fine. Call him. But send Ben and Janni out of here if you’re going to have them come over.”
“Oh, hell no, not here.” He took his arm off his eyes and gave her a what-do-you-take-me-for look. “Last thing I need is for something to go wrong and have him go apeshit in my house. He can meet me at the lab or all bets are off.”
At least he was being that sensible. Megan’s inclination was still to let the Ostheims pound sand, but once Alex was set on a course of action, getting him off it was nearly impossible. “Better,” she agreed.
“It’s not like I want to help him, Megan. I just think it’s the best way to get him out of our hair once and for all.”
“That may be.” Megan rubbed her forehead, trying to soothe the headache that had sprung up behind her eyes. “At least take the Beretta with a full load of silver bullets. If only for my own peace of mind.”
“Yeah, sure. Phone?”
She handed it to him, and he dialed.
Janni came back with some clothes for Ben and disappeared into the operating theater.
“Ostheim? How is she?” Alex said into the phone.
Megan pricked her ears and heard, “Sinking fast. For god’s sake, Jarrett …”
“What I did worked on Ben, but I needed his own stem cells, and it de-vamped him. Dr. McFoucher told me that she never got any stem cells from Idna, and they took a while to culture anyway. And the rabbit tests weren’t promising with donor cells.” Alex paused. “Honestly, Hans, I don’t think there’s anything I can— You still want me to try? Fine. I shouldn’t be willing, but I am.”
He pinched his nose. “But. You have to swear to me that no matter what, it’s over between us. And you won’t come after Ben or Janni or anyone else who works for me or who has worked for me, because none of this is their fault.”
Ben and Janni came out, and Megan sniffed at him discreetly. He smelled much healthier, to her relief. At least something was going right today.
“Meet me at the lab building over at Jarrett Biologicals,” Alex said into his phone. “I’ll be there in forty-five minutes.” He hung up. “Okay. Megan, can you call Harris and get him on deck? I’m in no condition to drive.”
He was in no condition to do anything, but she got on the phone and made the call. The sooner they got this over and done with, the better.
Chapter Eighteen
Alex lay on his sofa and zoned out for a second.
Ben’s voice brought him back. “Alex? Thanks.”
Alex waved his hand. “Was all my fault, anyway. Least I could do was fix what I could. I’m not done yet, either, because we’ve still got the werewolf thing to deal with.” He closed his eyes. “Let me get Ostheim’s problem taken care of, and then I’ll get started on that.” So much on his plate …
“I’m coming to terms with it. No hurry.”
Nice that he felt that way, but Alex wasn’t quite so cavalier. He heaved himself up. “Dr. McFoucher, you’re with me.” He checked the Beretta and filled the magazine with silver rounds, making sure he had one in the chamber, before sliding it into his waistband under his shirt. “Everyone else, stay put.”
“Ostheim is a piece of work, Alex,” Ben said. “Don’t let your guard down around him.”
“Oh, I know.” Alex trusted Ostheim about as far as he could throw his house, and he didn’t have a whole lot of hope that he’d be able to cure Idna, but he had to make a good-faith effort.
Otherwise, what did that make him?
; O O O
McFoucher shivered from an icy chill at the thought of facing her old boss in her new capacity, but Jarrett hadn’t left her much choice in the matter. He climbed into the Bentley beside her, crossed his arms over his chest, and promptly fell asleep, after telling his driver to wake him when they were ten minutes out.
She took the opportunity to review the protocol again. The stem cells and their nanotech delivery system had been the breakthrough, repairing muscle and nerve tissue on a molecular level and buying them valuable time. Idna didn’t have stem cells, and McFoucher wasn’t sure they had time to culture some in any case. As far gone as Ben had been, Idna was probably worse, since even more time had passed.
Before she knew it, Harris was telling Jarrett that they were nearly there, and he was sitting up and scrubbing his hand through his uncombed hair and pouring himself a shot of scotch, neat.
“Is that a good idea?” she asked, staring. She’d heard about his capacity for alcohol, but seeing it demonstrated first hand was something else.
“Best one I can think of. I need to be fortified with something so I can deal with that bastard without ripping his arm off and beating him to death with it.” He swallowed it with a couple of what she assumed were painkillers but might have been anything. “You got this thing figured out?”
She pursed her lips. “I get to shoot a massive dose of adrenaline right into her heart after you hit her with the paddles. Or before, if she’s still flatlined. I don’t think it’ll work, honestly.”
“Honestly? I don’t either. Let’s hope she surprises us both.” He shrugged. “Or not. I can’t say I’m too happy with her right now, what with the fact that she was willing to kill Ben so she could be healed. Whatever happens, they’ll leave me alone after this.”
“You hope.”
“They’d better.”
She’d never thought of Alex Jarrett as being scary, but his current expression would have sent small children screaming into the night.
He added, “I can only be pushed so far, and just because I haven’t pushed back yet after all this doesn’t mean I won’t.”